Side-effects of drugs kill thousands

More than 10,000 people a year may die from the side-effects of medicines prescribed by their doctors and most of those deaths are unnecessary, says a new study.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal today, finds that one in 16 of all admissions to hospital is caused by the side-effects of a drug. The cost to the NHS of the mostly avoidable treatment of these patients is estimated at £466m a year.

The researchers investigated the reasons why 18,820 patients were admitted to two hospitals in Merseyside during a six-month period. They found that 1,225 were suffering from an adverse drug reaction (ADR). Most patients recovered, but 28 died.

The authors, Munir Pirmohamed, professor of clinical pharmacology at Liverpool University, and colleagues, say that their figures suggest that drug side-effects caused the deaths of about 5,700 patients.

They say that at any one time "the equivalent of up to seven 800-bed hospitals may be occupied by patients admitted with ADRs ... Measures are urgently needed to reduce the burden on the NHS".